I am a professor of music education with a focus on building international research structures at the intersection of arts, education, and society. My own research spans competence assessment, instructional quality in music classrooms, cultural literacy and social inclusion through the arts, digital tools and artificial intelligence in music and arts education, and videographic analyses of learning practices — with more than 90 publications. [see Publications]
Alongside my research, I have increasingly taken on roles in research strategy, governance, and institutional development: founding and leading research groups, coordinating large-scale EU and national projects, and advising funding bodies on research policy.
As a member of the Swedish Research Council’s review panel and of the Research Council of Norway’s national reference group for Horizon Europe Cluster 2, and as a reviewer for the Swiss National Science Foundation, the German Research Foundation and the Slovak Research and Development Agency, I contribute to research assessment and funding policy in several European countries.
Over the years, I have successfully acquired and led multiple large-scale externally funded research projects. Currently, my main focus is the coordination of the Horizon Europe project dialoguing@rts, which investigates how performing arts education can foster cultural literacy and social inclusion. In addition, I co-lead Work Package 4 (Creative use of AI in education) of the MishMash Centre for AI and Creativity. [see Research]
CV
Since 2026 Professor of Music Education at the Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg (Sweden)
Since 2025 Visiting Professor (professor II) at the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH), Oslo (Norway)
Since 2018 Professor of Music Education at Nord University, Faculty of Education and Arts, Campus Levanger (Norway); head of the research group ‘Music-related Learning Processes’
2022–2025 Visiting Professor (professor II) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim (Norway)
2016–2018 Professor of Music Education at the University of Music Lübeck (Germany); Head of the ‘Centre for Teacher Education’ (ZfL)
2013–2016 Professor of Music Didactics/Artistic Practice in Music at the University of Erfurt (Germany); Head of department (music), 2014–2016 Director of Studies at the Erfurt School of Education (ESE)
2010–2013 (Associate) Professor of Music Education at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart (Germany)
2010 Doctorate (Dr. phil.) at the University of Bremen (Germany)
2008–2009 Coordinator of the BMBF research programme ‘An Instrument for Every Child’ (JeKi) at Bielefeld University (Germany)
2007–2009 Research fellow at the University of Bremen (Germany), DFG project KoMus
2005–2006 Church musician in Schwäbisch Hall (St. Michaelis Church, Germany)
2000–2006 Various positions as music educator, church musician, conductor, and band leader
1998–2006 Studies in organ, church music, and music education (music teacher for secondary schools) at the universities of music Weimar, Stuttgart (Germany) and Stockholm (Sweden)
Awards & Competitions
2013 Scientific Society of Music Education (WSMP), Sigrid Abel-Struth Prize
2006–2008 Franz and Christel Kuhlmann Foundation, Scholarship
2005 International Organ Competition Zürich-Wiedikon, Finalist
Affiliations
German Association for Research in Music Education (AMPF),
2011–2016 & 2020–2022 Board member, 2014–2016 Chairman
2006–2010 Chairman of the Doctoral Students Network
European Association for Music in Schools (EAS)
International Society for Music Education (ISME)
Music Pedagogy in Development (MiU), 2018–2024 Board member
Nordic Network for Research in Music Education (NNRME), representative of Nord University since 2018
Norsk Forum for Musikkpedagogisk Forskning (FoMuP)
Norwegian Consortium for Higher Education in Palestine (NorPal), since 2025; active in the network project NorP@rts – Norwegian Palestinian Arts Cooperation
Scientific Society of Music Education (WSMP)
Editorial & Review Activities
Journals & Books
Bulletin of empirical music education research (b:em), 2011–2015 Editorial Board member, 2016–2022 co-editor
International Journal of Education & the Arts (IJEA)
International Journal of Music Education (IJME)
Journal for Research in Arts and Sports Education (JASED)
Journal of Quantitative Research in Music Education (JQRME), founding member; since 2026 Editorial Review Board member
Journal of Sustainability and Futures in Music Education (sustain), since 2026 Advisory Board member
Music Education Research (MER)
Nordic Research in Music Education (NRME)
Perspektiven musikpädagogischer Forschung, since 2014 co-editor
Research in Music Education – German Association for Research in Music Education (AMPF)
Yearbook of Music Psychology/Jahrbuch Musikpsychologie (JBDGM), since 2024 Editorial Board member
Zeitschrift für Kritische Musikpädagogik (ZfKM)
Zeitschrift für Pädagogik (ZfPäd)
Research Funding
Advisory & Panel Roles
Member of the national reference group for Horizon Europe Cluster 2 (Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Societies), Research Council of Norway (RCN)
Member of the review panel UV-4 (Subject Didactics), Swedish Research Council (VR)
Review for Funding Agencies
Fulbright
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
German Research Foundation (DFG)
Norwegian Council for Schools of Music and Performing Arts (Kulturskolerådet)
Scientific Commission of the State of Lower Saxony
Slovak Research and Development Agency (SRDA)
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)